Top nuclear envoys of South Korea and the United States met in Seoul on Tuesday to discuss the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)'s nuclear program, Seoul's foreign ministry said.
Kim Hong-kyun, who represents South Korea in the long-stalled six-party talks to denuclearize the Korean peninsula, met his visiting U.S. counterpart Joseph Yun who was recently appointed as chief negotiator.
The six-party talks, involving South Korea, the DPRK, China, the United States, Russia and Japan, has been suspended since late 2008.
Pyongyang conducted its fifth nuclear test on Sept. 9, just eight months after its previous nuclear detonation in early January.
During the meeting, the two sides confirmed its agreement to increase pressure and sanctions toward the DPRK as the country shows no willingness to return to a dialogue table, according to Seoul's foreign ministry.
Seoul and Washington believe that stronger pressure and sanctions will lead Pyongyang to realize that there would be no choice but to denuclearize, the ministry said.
